True Christmas and New Year

We are, this afternoon, commemorating according to our usual custom,
one of the most important events that has ever transpired in our
world, and one which most concerns the whole human family, namely, the
death and sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ for the redemption of
the human family. No other event can be compared with this in its
importance, and in its bearings upon the human family. Everything else
is but of a secondary consideration, when compared with the atonement
that has been wrought out in behalf of man by the great Redeemer, yet,
strange to say, there are those in the Christian world, so called, who
profess to believe in Christianity and yet deny the efficacy of the
atoning blood that was shed by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. More
especially has this been the case for a few years past. I suppose
there are many thousands who deny this now, where there were but few
at the time of the rise of this Church. This has arisen, probably,
from the multiplication of spiritual influences, which now prevail to
a very great extent in the Christian world—influences that are evil,
revelations, false visions, spirit rappings and mediums. Almost
without exception these false spirits have taught those who have
listened to them, that there is no efficacy in the Atonement.

There is no subject more fully developed and made manifest to the
children of men in modern revelation than that of the atonement. Much
is said in relation to other doctrines, all of which have a bearing on
the atonement, that lying at the foundation of the whole. If the evil
one can prevail over the human family so
as to get them to
deny this fundamental doctrine, he knows that they are safe, so far as
serving him and failing of their salvation are concerned. If they can
only be wrought upon and deluded so as to disbelieve in the doctrine
of the atonement, it does not matter to Satan what else they may
believe. It is not my intention, however, this afternoon, unless so
led by the Spirit of the Lord, to dwell much on this subject. It is
one that has been so thoroughly taught to the Latter-day Saints, that
I esteem it almost unnecessary to repeat that with which they are so
familiar. By partaking of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper every
Sabbath day, we commemorate that great event. If we do not preach so
much about it by word of mouth we certainly fulfill the commandment
which God has given requiring us to remember unto the Father the
crucified body and shed blood of his Son, without which there would
have been no remission of sin, and no redemption, and mankind would
have remained in their fallen state. No light could have penetrated
the hearts of the children of men, and there would have been no
resurrection, no exaltation in the kingdom of God without the
atonement. When we speak of total depravity, it has reference to
certain conditions. Man is not totally depraved now, and the reason
is, there has been an atonement; but do away that, as many do, and
total depravity would reign, and men would live and die totally
degraded beings. All the light that has come into the world, and that
lights every man that comes into the world, has come by reason of the
atonement. It is an event that all Christian societies commemorate
more or less, or at least they did in former times. They are getting
more lax now since the devil and his angels have given so many
revelations against the atonement.

The Roman Catholics, about 532 years after Christ, set apart a day
called Christmas, which they no doubt believed at that time was the
day of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The reason why
they set apart Christmas and have kept up its commemoration from that
day until the present time, was because a certain monk, a member of
their church, named Dionsysius commenced a calculation to ascertain,
if possible, the period of time from the birth of Christ to the time
the calculation was made; and from all the information that he could
glean he set it down at 532 years. They had not printed works in those
days as we have now; they had not access to the abundance of
historical and chronological information then that we have; but from
all the information that Dionysius could glean, and making a
calculation thereon, he came to the above result.

He also made a calculation in regard to the day on which he supposed
the Savior to have been born, and that was set down as a day to be
celebrated by the Roman Catholics church. They have certain ordinances
in regard to that day, which you may see observed in their church in
this city. People, prior to this time, did not date their documents
from the birth of Christ. If they were writing a letter they did not
say, in the year of our Lord 520, in the year of our Lord 416, and so
on; this was never done until the calculation of Dionysius was made,
then it was adopted by the Roman Catholics and by all nations among
whom they had power and influence. By and by other chronologists made
calculations as to the time of Christ's birth, and from the
information they could gather together, they discovered that
Dionysius had made a mistake, and that Christ was born about one year
before the time set by him. But by this time there were great numbers
of important State and other documents and papers in existence, all
dated according to the incorrect calculation of this Romish monk. How
to remedy this the people did not know, for it would not do to alter
all these dates.

Another set of chronologists made calculations, and they discovered
that Dionysius had made a mistake of two years in regard to the time
of the Savior's birth. Four others, very learned men, sought
diligently, and from the information they obtained they found that
Jesus was born three years before the time published by Dionysius.
Five others made it four years; some few made it five years before,
and some seven years before the time specified by this Romish monk.
All modern chronologists who have taken up the subject, agree that
Dionysius was incorrect, at least several years. But did the people
alter the dates of their documents and manuscripts when his error was
fully made manifest? Not at all; they have continued that old,
erroneous reckoning down to this present year. But they have attached
the name of vulgar era to it, in order to indicate that it is
incorrect. Vulgar era! I think the name is inappropriate, for there
are thousands of people at the present day, including the youth of our
land, and perhaps many who have had a collegiate education, who never
knew or inquired into the meaning of vulgar era, or why the term was
introduced. Its real meaning is, incorrect era or date. For instance,
we write a letter today, and we call it the 29th day of December,
1872. This is according to the vulgar era, or erroneous date, or the
reckoning of Dionysius; but this is not the true date. The probability
is, independent of the Bible or Book of Mormon, from the great mass of
testimony that has been accumulated for generations past, that Jesus
was born nearly four years prior to the commencement of this vulgar
era, so that our present year, 1872, should be 1876. You will find a
full account of these matters in the writings of the learned, in
encyclopedias, and in various works touching upon chronology, so that
you have no need to take my testimony alone on this subject, for you
have access to our library here in this city, and you can examine
works on chronology and see that I am correct. There may be those here
who would like me to cite some works on this subject. I will cite one
that I read while I was in England, a Bible dictionary, by a very
learned author named Smith. This subject is treated very plainly and
fully in that work. I think that Mr. John W. Young of this city has
this work in his private library. The reason why I make these remarks
is, that this is the first Sabbath after Christmas, and the day on
which I believe the Roman Catholics in this city are celebrating
certain ordinances in their church in commemoration of this event.

Having found out that there is an error in regard to the year of
Christ's birth, now let us inquire if the day observed by the
Christian world as the day of his birth, the 25th of December, is or
is not the real Christmas Day? A great many authors have found out
from their researches that it is not. I think that there is scarcely
an author at the present day that believes that the 25th day of
December was the day that Christ was born on. Still it is observed by
certain classes, and we, whether we make any profession or not, are
just foolish enough to observe this old
Roman Catholic
festival. The boys and girls all look forward with great anticipations
to Christmas. Many of them, it is true, do not know the meaning of it,
or why it is celebrated; but when we come to reflect on the matter, it
is all nonsense to celebrate the 25th day of December as the birthday
of Jesus. It will do for a holiday, so you might select any other day
for that purpose. It is generally believed and conceded by the
learned, who have investigated the matter, that Christ was born in
April. I have seen several accounts—some of them published in our
periodicals—of learned men in different nations, in which it is stated
that, according to the best of their judgment from the researches they
have made, Christ was crucified on the 6th of April. That is, the day
on which this church was organized. But when these learned men go back
from the day of his crucifixion to the day of his birth, they are at a
loss, having no certain evidence or testimony by which they can
determine it. I intend this afternoon to give light on this subject
from new revelation, which we, as Latter-day Saints, can depend upon.
I will read to you from the Book of Mormon, some things that happened,
at the time of the crucifixion, on this great western hemisphere, and
I will say we have a date given there in connection with these events,
showing how old Jesus was at the time of his crucifixion. It may not
be amiss, however, for me to make a few remarks before I commence
reading, to inform strangers who may be present, that the inhabitants
of ancient America, and those who wrote the Book of Mormon were
Israelites! That when they came from the city of Jerusalem, 600 years
before Christ, they were a righteous people, and had prophets among
them, and that they kept the law of Moses. Now the sacrifices and
burnt offerings of that law were typical of the great offering that
was to be made by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The ancient
inhabitants of this continent, to whom I have referred, understood the
nature of these ordinances, and they looked forward to the coming of
the true Messiah and celebrated it by these ordinances, the same as we
look backward and celebrate his death and sufferings by partaking of
the symbols of, as we have done this afternoon.

Now if God led a company of Israelites from Palestine to colonize this
continent, and taught them to keep the law of Moses with its
sacrifices and burnt offerings, typical of the great sacrifice that
was to be made at Jerusalem, it would not be at all strange for him to
give to them a sign concerning Jesus, when he should be born, and when
he should die. He did this by the mouths of prophets. Numerous
prophets were raised up on this land, and they prophesied to the
inhabitants thereof, and taught them about the coming of Jesus, and
what signs should be given at the time he should come. They taught
them that the night before Jesus should be born there would be no
darkness on this land, but that it would be perfectly light. They
would see the sun set in the evening, and that, during the night,
until it should rise the next morning, there would be no darkness;
that great signs and lights would appear in the heavens, and that they
were to be to them indications of the birth of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. These signs were given, and by them the people on this
continent knew the very day that Jesus was born.

Some years after this, before the crucifixion of Jesus, they fell into
great wickedness. They persecuted the prophets, shed their blood, stoned
them to death, and cast them out of their midst, and
they were full of wrath and indignation and sinned against great
light, so that the Lord was under the necessity of sending other
Prophets to them, telling them that at the time of the crucifixion, if
they did not repent, many of their cities should be burned with fire,
many destroyed with tempests, and that they should be visited with
sore judgments and calamities; and that during the time Jesus should
be lifted up on the cross, there should be tremendous earthquakes upon
all the face of this continent, and that after that there would be
three days and three nights of darkness, and that this darkness should
come immediately after the execution of the Savior. Now let us read
what the Prophet says on page 450 of the Book of Mormon concerning
these events, which transpired just as they had been predicted.

“And it came to pass in the thirty and fourth year, in the first
month, in the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such
an one as had never been known in all the land.” From what period was
this date reckoned? We are informed on page 435 of this book, that the
Nephites began reckoning the beginning of their year from the sign
given them at the birth of the Savior—the night without darkness.
Previous to that they had reckoned from the time of their leaving
Jerusalem, 600 years before Christ, and they continued this some five
centuries, until they changed the form of their government on this
continent, and introduced judges; then they reckoned their time from
the beginning of the reign of the judges. This mode of reckoning
lasted ninety-one years. Five hundred and nine years having passed
away before the reign of the judges commenced, and ninety-one added to
that made 600 years from the time that Lehi and the colony came out of
Jerusalem. Then they changed their mode of reckoning, and reckoned
from the time this great sign was given in the heavens, so that we
know what this date means—“in the thirty and fourth year, in the first
month, and in the fourth day of the month.” Now I think this gives us
a clue to the age of Jesus when he was crucified, but we will read on,
and see about the storm.

“There arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all
the land. And there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there
was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth as if
it was about to divide asunder. And there were exceeding sharp
lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land. And the city
of Zarahemla did take fire.”

Zarahemla was their great capital city. It was located in the north
part of South America, on one branch of that river that we call the
river Magdalena, that runs down from the mountains to the northward,
and empties into the Caribbean Sea. On the west side of that river
was located the great city of Zarahemla. We will now read further:

“And the city Zarahemla did take fire. And the city Moroni did sink
into the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof were drowned.
And the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah, that in the
place of the city thereof there became a great mountain.”

Now if our miners, those who go into South America, should happen to
dig in a few thousand feet, and should come across old buildings, they
need not be astonished, for the Lord made a terrible revolution in the
land. There came a great
mountain in the place where this city
stood; “and there was a great and terrible destruction in the land
southward”—what we term South America.

“But behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the
land northward”—North America—“for behold the whole face of the land
was changed because of the tempest, and the whirlwinds, and the
thunderings, and the lightnings, and the exceeding great quakings of
the whole earth; And the highways were broken up, and the level roads
were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough. And many great
and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were
shook till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate. And
there were some cities which remained; but the damage thereof was
exceedingly great, and there were many in them who were slain. And there
were some who were carried away in the whirlwind; and whither they
went no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away. And
thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the
tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of
the earth. And behold, the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken
up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in
broken fragments, and in seams and in cracks, upon all the face of the
land.”

You can see from this, what terrible convulsions have taken place on
this continent, even here in these mountains. In the mountains west of
this valley, you will find the strata of rock set up almost
perpendicular; that was not the way they were first formed. You will
also find there, as elsewhere, strata dipping at a greater or less
angle into the earth. The cause of all this has been the terrible
convulsions that our globe has undergone, and more especially at the
time of the crucifixion.

“And it came to pass that when the thunderings, and the lightnings,
and the storm, and the tempest, and the quakings of the earth did
cease—for behold they did last for about the space of three hours; and
it was said by some that the time was greater; nevertheless, all these
great and terrible things were done in about the space of three hours—
and then behold there was darkness upon the face of the land.”

I might go on reading, if it were necessary, in regard to the weeping,
wailing and mourning of the people during these three days of intense
darkness—no sun, moon, nor stars were to be seen, and the vapor was so
great that the inhabitants of the land could feel it, the same as the
darkness was felt in the land of Egypt. It was not, of course, the
darkness that was felt, but the vapor that was so thick. There is one
thing, however, to which I wish to call your special attention, before
I make any further remarks in regard to the date that is here given.
When this darkness dispersed, it is said to have been morning. You
will find it on page 454. “And it came to pass that thus did the three
days pass away; and it was in the morning, and the darkness dispersed
from off the face of land, and the earth did cease to tremble, and the
rocks did cease to rend.”

You might say that this was not three days and three nights, for Jesus
was crucified and died on the cross at 3 o'clock in the afternoon at
Jerusalem, and consequently for it to have been just three days and
three nights, you might suppose that the darkness must have dispersed
in the
afternoon. But this book tells us that when the three
days and three nights of darkness had passed away it was morning. Now
why this discrepancy—for it seems to be one—between the Bible and the
Book of Mormon? Can you account for it, and tell why it should have
been morning in America? The reason is because of the difference in
longitude. The writer of the account in the Book of Mormon resided in
the northwestern portion of South America. Now you take a map of the
world, and see the difference in longitude between the place where.
Jesus was crucified, and that where the writer of the Book of Mormon
lived, and you will find that it is about seven and a half hours. Now
you subtract seven and a half hours from 3 o'clock in the afternoon,
and what time would it be when the three hours of quaking and the
destruction of cities expired, or when the darkness commenced? Would
it not be in the morning? Take away seven and a half hours longitude
from 3 o'clock—the time that Jesus expired—and would it not be half
past seven o'clock in the morning with the inhabitants of this land,
while it was afternoon with the inhabitants in Jerusalem?

I presume that Joseph Smith, being an unlearned man, never saw this to
the day of his death; that is, he never understood it. I never heard
him, or any learned man refer to it until after his death; but reading
it over myself, I saw, at first, there was an apparent discrepancy
between this book and the New Testament; one placing it in the
morning, and the other in the afternoon. When thinking of this seeming
discrepancy, the difference in longitude occurred to my mind, and
that is just what it should be to account for the difference in time
given in the two books; and this, though not direct, is incidental
proof that the man who translated this book was inspired of God. I do
not think that Joseph Smith, to the day of his death, knew that a
difference in time at different places on the earth was caused by
their difference of longitude.

We will now go back to the date, at the commencement of the extract I
have been reading—“in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month,
and on the fourth day of the month”—that would make him thirty-three
years, three days and part of another day old, at the time of his
crucifixion, according to the account given in the Book of Mormon. But
this does not decide his age exactly, unless we can learn what kind of
years the Nephites reckoned. Did they reckon their years as the
English and Americans do? No, I presume not. How can we learn the
length of their years? I do not know of any better method than going
back to the early Spanish historians who lived contemporary with
Columbus, the discoverer of America. When they penetrated into Mexico,
and conquered that country, they found that the Mexicans were
partially civilized, so that they had many records, although their
mode of keeping them was very different from those of other nations.
The Mexican calendar gave their views and ideas with regard to the
length of the year, and their mode of reckoning them. This was about
the close of the fifteenth century, for Columbus discovered America in
1492. Soon afterwards these Spanish historians became extensively
acquainted with Mexican literature, their form of writing, and the
half civilization that existed among them. I have in my possession
nine large volumes, got up soon after the Book of Mormon was
translated, by Lord Kingsborough, on Mexican antiquities. The nine
volumes will probably weigh over two hundred pounds. Five of them
contain nothing but plates of antiquities, the other four contain
translations, in English, Spanish and French, of the declarations of
historians concerning Mexican literature and their knowledge
concerning the length of the year. They reckoned 365 days to the year,
but did not add what is termed the intercalary day every four years,
to make what we call leap year. They did this only once in fifty-two
years, and then they added thirteen days, which made one day for every
four years. This shows that they had a very good idea of the length of
the year.

When Jesus was crucified, at the age of about, thirty-three years, if
the Nephites reckoned according to the Mexican portion of the
Israelites, they had not added the eight days that we would add for
leap year, consequently this would shorten their years, and instead of
being thirty-three years, three days and part of the fourth day, it
would bring it, according to our reckoning, eight days less than the
Book of Mormon date, or thirty-two years, three hundred and sixty days
and fifteen hours. This, then, it is highly probable, must have been
the real period that existed between the birth and the crucifixion of
our Savior.

Now we have a clue in the New Testament to the time of his
crucifixion, but not of his birth; that is, we know that he was
crucified on Friday, for all of the Evangelists testify that Saturday
was the Jewish Sabbath, and that on Friday Jesus was hung on the
cross, and according to the testimony of the learned, that was on the
6th of April, consequently by going back from the crucifixion 32
years, 360 days and 15 hours, making allowance for the longitude, it
gives Thursday for his birthday. Again, making allowance for the
errors of Dionysius the monk, adding four years or nearly so to the
vulgar or incorrect era, it would make the organization of this Church
take place precisely, to the very day, 1,800 years from the day that he
was lifted up on the cross.

This is something very marvelous in my mind. Joseph Smith did not
choose the 6th of April upon which to organize this Church: he
received a commandment from God, which is contained in the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants, setting apart that day as the one upon which
the Church should be organized. Why did he set up his kingdom
precisely 1,800 years from the day on which he was lifted up on the
cross? I do not know why. The Lord has his own set time to bring to
pass his great purposes. If Joseph Smith had been learned in
chronology and in the writings of the world; if he had been a
middle-aged or an old man of experience, or a man who had access to
libraries, instead of a farmer's boy, then we might have supposed that
perhaps he had studied chronology, sought out the true era, found out
how to distinguish between the true and the vulgar, and then find out
the true date of the birth of Christ and his crucifixion, and got it
all arranged together nicely and harmoniously, and then have pretended
that he had had a revelation to organize the Church precisely 1,800
years from that great event. This is what we should have to concede if
we wanted to make out the work an imposition: but the very fact that
God commanded that boy to organize the Church on that day, ought to be
regarded as strong collateral evidence of the divine authenticity of
the Book of Mormon.

Perhaps I have said all that is needful on this matter. If I were to
celebrate Christmas, or the birthday of Christ, I should go back a
little less than thirty-three years from his crucifixion, and it would
bring it to Thursday, the 11th day of April, as the first day of the
first year of the true Christian era; and reckoning on thirty-two
years, 360 days and fifteen hours from that, it would bring it to the
crucifixion, and bring it on Friday also.

In saying that “it was the thirty-fourth year, first month and fourth
day of the month” on which the great storm and earthquakes took place,
there is another thing to be noted—that it must have taken place on
Friday, according to the Nephite reckoning in order to bring his
crucifixion on Friday. If Tuesday was the first day of the 34th year,
the second day would be Wednesday, the third Thursday, and Friday
would have been the fourth day of the month, just as the Book of
Mormon says, bringing it correct according to the reckoning of the
days of the week.

There is another thing that, perhaps, a great many of the Latter-day
Saints and many of the world have not reflected upon; that is; that
the beginning of our present New Year is incorrect, reckoning the
years from the birth of Christ, for the first day of January was not
the day of his birth. We call it the first day of the year, but it has
no reference to the day of Christ's birth. The first day of the year
of the true Christian era should be the day of the Savior's birth—the
11th day of April. About 122 years ago we did not have the first day
of January for New Year. At that time, or thereabouts, everybody in
America and England reckoned New Year's Day on the 25th of March. That
had been the first day of the year for many generations. How came it
to be changed to the first day of January? In 1751 the Parliament of
Great Britain passed a law that the year should be moved backwards
from the 25th day of March to the 1st day of January, making the year
1751 some eighty-four days shorter than all the other years had been.
Why did they do this? In order to place New Year in connection with a
certain event in astronomy. Those who are acquainted with the earth
going round the sun, know that the path in which it moves is not a
circle but an ellipse, or elongated circle. You make a wire into the
form of a circle and then pull it out, and that is the form of an
ellipse. The sun is situated in one of the foci of this ellipse, and
is nearer to the earth on the 1st day of January or the 31st day of
December, by about three millions of miles, than it is on the 1st day
of July. The object of placing the year back was to have the year
begin when the earth was in its perihelion in going around the sun.
This was not the only alteration that has been made, but this accounts
for the phrases “new style” and “old style,” with which you
occasionally meet in historical documents, the former having reference
to the new mode of reckoning, the latter to the old mode.

I have said that this was not the only change made in time. In the
year 1752—when the second day of September had arrived, in order to
bring the year to correspond with the seasons, it was found necessary
to set the time forward so that the 3rd day of September should be
called the 14th, eleven days being dropped out of the calendar. This
was also established by parliamentary law; and in this way the seasons
have been brought to correspond, in some mea-sure, with the
length of the year. All these things should be taken into
consideration in our dates; and when we read the saying in the Book of
Covenants that the Lord organized his Church in the year of our Lord
1830, in the fourth month, and on the sixth day of the month, the Lord
made his language to correspond with our present mode of reckoning,
that is, he adopted the reckoning of the English, established by
parliamentary law. Instead of reckoning the year to begin on the 25th
of March, he says, “It being in the year of our Lord 1830, the fourth
month, and the sixth day of the month that the Church was organized.”
We are not on this account to take this as the real date, but it is
adapted to our present mode of reckoning. I have made these remarks,
that no persons, if they should feel disposed to search into
chronology, might be misled in relation to this matter. Being so near
Christmas and New Year, I have deemed it appropriate to dwell on this
subject, for the purpose of enlightening the minds of all who may be
present, so far as I have information in regard to it.

Now, if I have not already occupied too much time, I desire to dwell a
little upon the subject of the chronology of our world. We have no
dates on which we can depend as to the period or history of our globe
from the creation down to the present time. Chronologists differ in
regard to the history and age of the world. Some make the age of the
world, from the creation to the coming of Christ, to be four thousand
years. Archbishop Usher has introduced this chronology into King James'
Bible; and in that you will find all the dates adapted to that
particular reckoning; and according to his reckoning you will find
that Christ came in the year of the world 4004. Is this to be depended
upon? Not at all. Many chronologists equally as learned, and who have
made deeper researches than he has on this subject, differ with him
materially. There are many who place the birth of Christ at 5500 years
from the creation; others place it at 5490, others at 5508 or 9 years.
There are about two hundred chronologists who all differ in regard to
this matter. Many Jewish chronologists make it over six thousand years
from the creation till the birth of Christ, so that you see when we
attempt to take up the subject on the learning of the world, we are in
the midst of confusion—no person knows anything about it. It is not
really necessary that we should know, but we have some little light on
this subject.

We know that it was not six thousand years from the creation to the
birth of Christ. How do we know this? God has told us in new
revelation that this earth is destined to continue its temporal
existence for seven thousand years, and that at the commencement of
the seventh thousand, he will cause seven angels to sound their
trumpets. In other words, we may call it the Millennium, for the
meaning of the word millennium is a thousand years. Six thousand years
must pass away from the creation till the time that Jesus comes in the
clouds of heaven, and he will not come exactly at the expiration of
six thousand years. When the Prophet Joseph asked the Lord what was
meant by the sounding of the seven trumpets, he was told, “That as God
made the world in six days, and on the seventh day he finished his
work, and sanctified it, and also formed man out of the dust of the
earth, even so, in the beginning of the seventh thousand years will
the Lord God sanctify the earth, and complete the salvation of man,
and judge all things and shall redeem all things, except that
which he hath not put into his power, when he shall have sealed all
things, unto the end of all things; and the sounding of the trumpets of
the seven angels is the preparing and finishing of his work, in the
beginning of the seventh thousand years—the preparing of the way before the
time of his coming.” This quotation will be found in the Pearl of
Great Price, p. 34.

Neither of these trumpets have sounded yet, but they shortly will; and
this gives us a little clue to the period and age of our world. We
know that six thousand years have not yet elapsed since the creation,
but we know that they have very nearly expired. We know that God set
up and established this kingdom 1,800 years from the date of his
crucifixion, preparatory to his coming in the clouds of heaven to
receive the kingdom that he sets up here on the earth, and to rule and
reign over all people, nations and tongues that are spared alive.
Perhaps this is sufficient on the history and chronology of the world;
but for the benefit of the Saints, and it will not hurt the strangers,
although they do not believe in our revelations, I will refer to some
further evidence and testimony on this subject.

In the new translation which Joseph Smith was commanded to make of the
Old and New Testament, we find that some of the dates given in King
James' translation of events before the flood are incorrect, but they
are corrected in the new translation. For instance, the age of Enoch,
as given in King James' Bible, is incorrect. The new translation gives
a lengthy prophecy which was delivered to him before the flood, and
this prophecy relates to generations in the future as well as to
things that were past. Enoch, in his vision, saw the great work that
he was destined to perform on the earth, in preaching the Gospel among
the nations, and gathering out a people and building up a city called
Zion. He saw that in process of time the people of Zion would become
sanctified before the Lord, that the Lord would come and dwell in
their midst and that by and by, after the city had existed 365 years,
it with all its people, would be taken up to heaven. And all the days
of Zion in the days of Enoch, says the new translation, was 365 years,
making Enoch 420 years old when he and his people were translated,
which is older than the age given him in the uninspired translation.

In this new translation we have also a much greater history of the
creation of the world than is given in the uninspired translation made
by the forty-seven men employed by King James. In that book we have a
very short history of that great event; but the inspired translation
shows that the periods of time called days, in which the several
portions of the work of creation were performed, were not by any means
of such limited duration as the days we speak of, but from what is
revealed in the Book of Abraham, they were probably periods of one
thousand years each. God might have been for the space of a thousand
years in organizing a certain portion of this creation, and that was
called the evening and the morning of the first day, according to the
Lord's reckoning, one day being with him as a thousand years and a
thousand years as one day. By and by another day's work was performed,
which I do not suppose was a day of twenty-four hours, but an
indefinite period of time, called the second day—the evening and the
morning of the second day. By and by the third day's
work was
done, and then there was the evening and the morning of the third day.
Three thousand years probably, passed away in the performance of these
three days' work. In the fourth day the Lord permitted the sun and
moon to shine to give light to the earth. What regulated the evening
and the morning the first three days we do not know, for neither sun
nor moon were permitted to shine until the fourth day. I have no
doubt, the Lord has a variety of methods of producing light. The new
translation gives us some information on this subject, for there we
read that, “I the Lord created darkness on the face of the “great
deep.” In King James' translation it says darkness was on the face of
the great deep, and I, the Lord, said, “Let there be light, and there
was light.” Now how did the Lord create this darkness? He has a power,
the same as he had in causing darkness three days and nights over this
American land. But before that darkness was created what produced
light? It must have been light here on this earth, and probably was so
thousands of years before the Lord created darkness; and then he had
the means of producing darkness, and afterwards of clearing it away,
and then called it morning. But how long that morning had existed we
do not know, unless we appeal to the Book of Abraham, translated by
Joseph Smith from Egyptian papyrus. That tells us in plainness that
the way the Lord and the celestial host reckoned time, was by the
revolutions of a certain great central body called Kolob, which had
one revolution on its axis in a thousand of our years, and that was
one day with the Lord, and when the Lord said to Adam, “In the day
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” the Book of Abraham says
it was not yet given unto man the true reckoning of time, and that it
was reckoned after the Lord's time that is one thousand years with us
was a day with him, and that Adam, if he partook of the forbidden
fruit, was to die before that day of a thousand years should expire.
Hence when we go back to the history of the creation, we find that the
Lord was not in such a great hurry as many suppose, but that he took
indefinite periods of long duration to construct this world, and to
gather together the elements by the laws of gravitation to lay the
foundation and form the nucleus thereof, and when he saw that all
things were ready and properly prepared, he then placed the man in the
Garden of Eden to rule over all animals, fish and fowls, and to have
dominion over the whole face of the earth.

There is another very curious thing revealed in Joseph Smith's
translation, and one that explains some mysterious passages in the
first and second chapter of Genesis. In the first chapter of Genesis
in King James' translation we read that on the fifth day the Lord made
the whales, the fish and the fowls of the air. On the sixth day he
made the animals, beasts and creeping things, and last of all he made
man, male and female. Now read along in King James' translation to the
seventh day, and we are told that there was not a man to till the
ground, yet he had made them male and female on the sixth day. Now,
where were they made? They were made in heaven first. All the children
of men, male and female, all the spirits of beasts, fowls, fish and
creeping things were made spiritually in heaven before they were
placed temporally here on the earth, and the spiritual creation
differs from the temporal creation. The new translation says that man
was the very first flesh made here on the earth;
whereas,
according to the account in King James' translation, the flesh of
beasts, fowls and fish was made on the fifth day, before man was made.
But in the great temporal work of placing man on the earth, he was the
first flesh formed and placed here among all the works of God. He had
made the spirits of fish, fowls and beast, but none of them were
permitted to come to the earth in their fleshy tabernacles until man,
the great masterpiece, was placed here—then they were brought before
him—for him to give names to them.

In the work of creation the first is last and the last first. God made
the spiritual part of this creation during these six days' work that
we read of; then he commenced the temporal work on the seventh day. He
planted the garden on the seventh day; he placed man in that garden on
the seventh day; formed the beasts and brought them before the man on
the seventh day, all this being the temporal work, the first being
spiritual. Not so in the last of his work—the great work that is to
come. When the seventh millennium shall arrive the Lord will redeem
man and bring him forth from the grave, and he will begin to redeem
this creation not making it entirely immortal and spiritual, like a
sea of glass. It will exist for a thousand years in a temporal
condition, as it was before the Fall. This will be the first of his
temporal work in the last days. By and by when the millennium has
passed, and the earth passes away and dies and its elements are melted
with fervent heat, and there is no place found for it as an organized
body, he will again speak and there will be another creation—a
creation of this earth out of the old materials; in other words a
resurrection of the earth, a literal resurrection. That will be the
last of his work. In the morning of creation spiritual first, and
lastly temporal. But in the ending temporal first in the redemption,
and lastly spiritual, which will be the perfection or ending of his
work.

There are a great many things that God has revealed to us as
Latter-day Saints, and it would be well for us, for our Elders and for
all, to search these revelations, to prepare their minds to understand
what God intends to do with our creation, and those who are prepared
to inherit it, when it is made new. We, if faithful, shall inherit it
in its temporal condition before the millennium passes away. Though
our bodies may go down to the grave, God will bring us forth. He will
redeem us and bring together bone to its bone, organize the flesh,
sinews, muscles and every part of the body in its proper place, cover
it with skin, cause the breath to enter into us, and the Spirit from
on high to quicken us, and the human spirit, that will dwell in a
celestial paradise, to return and take possession of the body. Then we
shall inhabit the earth, not at first in its glorified state—that
state which eventually awaits it, but in the beginning of its
redemption in its temporal condition during the thousand years, of
which the work before the Fall was typical.